how do u tell scope no good

went to range today with a friend he could not hit anything i tried rifle scope was loose tightened it up tried to scope it in forget it could not get it scoped in at all turned the adjustments until it almost fell out? Going to bring to gun shop to see if they can scope it in?? How do u tell if scope is no good?

If the scope came loose that means you have lost your zero, time to re-zero it back .

Tighten everything back up and loctite the critical screws etc. buy the ammo you want to zero in and go to the range and shoot at paer targets to zero the rifle in.

Time to invest in a bore sighter, saves you time and money, i have both the expensive traditional one and the laser type sold at Wally world for $40+ very good to have , if not many gun stores have bore sighters and will do it for you for free, especially if you are a regular.

No easy way around it, you need to spend time at the range to get it back sighted in . (assuming you know the fundamentals of using a scope)

If the scope came loose that means you have lost your zero, time to re-zero it back .

Tighten everything back up and loctite the critical screws etc. buy the ammo you want to zero in and go to the range and shoot at paer targets to zero the rifle in.

Time to invest in a bore sighter, saves you time and money, i have both the expensive traditional one and the laser type sold at Wally world for $40+ very good to have , if not many gun stores have bore sighters and will do it for you for free, especially if you are a regular.

No easy way around it, you need to spend time at the range to get it back sighted in . (assuming you know the fundamentals of using a scope)

along with the advice hansom gave you beth, after you have that scope mounted properly, if you have taken the windage and elevation adjs. all the way one way or the other, you need to get them back.
One way I would suggest, take them both (windage & elevation) all the way in one direction till you run out of adjustment.
Then, take them "both" the other way and count the "clicks" very carefully and write it down!
Now take both, windage and elevation and take them both back 1/2 the number of clicks that you took them to.
That should get you close and sart the Zeroing process.

One more: Start rezeroing at a range you can see easily. 20-25 yds is fine. Once you get it close you can move targets out to your preferred range & finish the job. No need to waste ammo at first by trying for groups. One bullet will tell you what you need.

One more: Start rezeroing at a range you can see easily. 20-25 yds is fine. Once you get it close you can move targets out to your preferred range & finish the job. No need to waste ammo at first by trying for groups. One bullet will tell you what you need.

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..indeed, the closer the better to save ammo.

Another thought is one shot zero. At a close range, get your rifle in a fixed device such as a gun vice or lead-sled and sucure your rifle as much as possible so it wont move.
Fire one shot and adjust your crosshairs to the hit, then you'll be right real close to zero with some fine "tunning".

ok guys thanks for the info will try it out, how does bore sighter work?

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Beth, there is differnt types such as laser bore sights and the laser/catridge type, none of which Ive used.
But with the laser bore sight, it sticks in the end of your barrel, turn it on and put the "dot" on your target at whatever range, and adjust your crosshairs to it.
It'll get you right real close. The have them at wallyworld, centerpoint brand for around $40.

Bore sight gets your windage pretty much set. You just have to adjust the elevation for whatever distance you want the zero to be. Keep in mind any wind is going to move a .22lr making the windage appear off so try to do it on a calm day.

.22s are normaly harder on cheaper scopes than high powered rifles. That means the mounts play an even greater role.

You have two screw points. Those that hold the rings to the rifle, and the ones that hold the scope to the rings. In both cases, ya get what ya pay for. A cheap set of rings is just that. Cheap.

Most folks that own .22s don't want to spend a lotta money on a scope or mounts, unless they are target shooters. So what's the regular shooter to do?

Get a decent set of rings, and lap them. Ya can get the tool from many places, and it only takes 5-10 minutes to clean up the rings. What you'll find is, the rings are usually not square, nor is there much contact with the scopes tube.

Cheaper sets are usually cast aluminum. The more expensive ones are cast steel.
Cast is the common denominator. They are all mass produced, and they all fit slightly different on any give rifle.

I use the tool on all my rings. On the lower end sets, you can go from 25% contact to 90%. I lapped the rings on my PEPR and the rings went from 70% contact to 95%.

The more contact the rings have on the tube, the less chance of slippage.

Remount the scope and get the shot on paper at 20 yards moving it to zero as suggested.
Shoot several groups at the highest magnification, if a variable magnification scope.
Switch to the lowest magnification and repeat. The shots should group in the same place. If not, it may be faulty.
Yse a bench and be careful that you are not canting the rifle to one side or the other.
Another thing to check is that the scope rings are not up against the adjustment knobs as sometimes they can deform the tube resulting in really screwed cross hairs.
after you get the scope try different brand of ammo as certain rifles are sometimes fussy. If you are getting decent shot groups, that is a triangle, but too open for your likes , it is time to switch ammo.
I have a 10-22 and it loves CCI mini mags and Blazers but will throw some other brands all over the place.

Beth,
I was always told a scope is bad if the lens is broken, the reticle is damaged or you cannot adjust the reticle. Everything else is usually corrected with an adjustment of some kind.
Have a question.
Did the scope run out of adjustment when you were trying to zero? Check that the front tube does indeed have clearance over the barrel. (you see a gap between the two) if it makes contact it will throw off your zero.
Do reset the scope to center as described above.
Are the rings mounted correctly?
Do you have a laser bore site?
If not this may help.
Is this rifle a bolt or semi auto action? If a bolt, remove the bolt and look through the barrel then look through the scope without moving the rifle and see if you are close to the Spot that the barrel is on. If not then the scope is either Mis-mounted or the rifle may not be true( plum or square) in relation to the base, screw holes, or dovetail mount and the barrel.
At this point look at the rings are they square to the barrel? To check take a ruler and lay it along side of the scope mount with the excess length pointing toward the muzzle. It should not angle in or out but stay generally in a straight line. (the ruler must be straight and not bent on its own)
Verify that you have a slight gap between the top and bottom portions of the rings as should they not be tight on top of each over and touching this can throw off the zero
Repeat with the scope it should be centered over the centerline of the barrels bore when looking from above
I know this all sounds like a lot of work but it should only take 20-30 minutes to verify

Lastly if your rings are two piece verify that they are orientated the same way. With the set screws facing the same side of the rifle. BTW is this rifle a 10/22? they are know to strip out the threads in the holes pre-drilled on the top of the rifle. Let us know what you find and to what direction the rounds were impacting in relation to zero when you were at the range and we can go from there